13 Jun 2017Lineup of experts on the ‘science of happiness’ to speak at 2017 GWS

In order to immerse delegates in the findings and applications of the new field of research of the science of happiness, the Global Wellness Summit’s 2017 agenda will include a roster of keynotes from “happiness science” leaders at its conference taking place at The Breakers Palm Beach, FL, from 9-11 October.

The keynotes include Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, associate professor of economics and strategy at Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford and associate editor of the World Happiness Report; Mohamad (Mo) Gawdat, chief business officer for Google [X], an elite team of engineers that comprise Google’s futuristic “dream factory”; Silvia Garcia, founder of FeelLogic and former global director of the Happiness Institute at Coca-Cola; and Nancy Etcoff, PhD, assistant clinical professor at Harvard Medical School – where she teaches “Science of Happiness” courses – and a psychologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry.

In recent years, a new “science of happiness” has been galvanised by global research studies like the UN’s World Happiness Report and The Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, which takes a multidimensional approach to measuring total wellbeing for nations.

“Workplaces, grasping the high levels of employee unhappiness and their toll on productivity, are now executing on lessons learned from happiness science,” Summit organisers said in a press release. “The mental health industry, long focused on human failings/pathology, is embracing neuroscience to understand the mechanisms of happiness, hope, empathy, resilience and joy, along with approaches like positive psychology. We even see tourism destinations/programming starting to be designed around the pillars of happiness.”

De Neve – who also spoke at last year’s Summit – is a leading researcher on what constitutes human wellbeing, which has led to new insights on the relationship between happiness and income, economic growth and inequality. His research was selected as one of “The Management Ideas that Mattered Most in 2016” by the Harvard Business Review. And his keynote will focus on the role of (and strategies for driving more) happiness in the workplace.

“People spend the majority of their lives working, and it’s critical to understand the role that employment and unemployment play in shaping happiness,” said De Neve. “Putting happiness centre stage in business and governmental policy makes powerful sense: research shows that boosting people’s happiness makes them 7 to 12 per cent more productive and that the top ‘best-to-work-for’ companies outperform competitors. Yet employee happiness is often wildly undervalued by management and investors alike.”

Gawdat spent seven-plus years researching how to formulate an equation for happiness, based on how the brain takes in and processes joy and sadness. Years later, that algorithm would be put to the ultimate test after the tragic death of his son, when his family turned to his solution to survive. And it sparked a mission: share the equation with the world – including the 500+ wellness leaders at the Global Wellness Summit – through his new book, “Solve for Happy: Engineering Your Path to Joy.”

Garcia is an expert on workforce well-being; at the Happiness Institute she sought to transform lives through the science of happiness applied to the economy, workplace, health, politics and education. She will share with Summit delegates how organisations and cities thrive by fueling happiness – leading to significant increases in innovation, shareholder returns, talent retention and increased productivity.

Etcoff is part of a new vanguard of cognitive researchers investigating what makes humans happy – and whether and how we evolved for happiness – her work on happiness exposes often surprising, counter-intuitive results. She has also given a popular TED talk entitled “Happiness and Its Surprises.”